Tuesday, April 12, 2011

IL GOP Gets Sneaky

In a move that has people calling for blood, Republicans in Illinois have slipped an anti-gay amendment into a bill that aids the blind.

The innocent seeming change to the White Cane Law is in its 11th hour before passage-- which is just when Sen. David Koehler sneakily added an amendment allowing religious organizations that receive public funding to bar gay prospective parents from adopting.

This weird attack comes just as Illinois is about to grant civil unions to gay couples in that state. The Civil Rights Agenda notes:

"'This bill is an attack on the Civil Union Act and by extension, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community,' stated Anthony Martinez, Executive Director of The Civil Rights Agenda. 'Why this amendment? Why now? Because we just granted rights to the LGBTQ community. Why are we trying to write discrimination into the law? This is unacceptable.'"

Really, guys? This is just gross and mean-spirited. These kind of tactics, ladies and gentlemen, are the sort of tactics that people have to resort to when they really don't have a leg to stand on.

The switchboard for the Illinois legislature is 217-782-3944. If you know people who live in Illinois, pass this story on to them-- urge the State Senate to vote "no" on Senator Koehler's Amendment 1 to SB 1123.